Longtime Voice of Scooby-Doo's Daphne Dies

Heather North was 71
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 20, 2017 2:14 AM CST
Longtime Voice of Scooby-Doo 's Daphne Dies
Heather North is seen in this undated photo.   (IMDB)

The name Heather North might not be that well known, but her voice would be instantly recognized by viewers of the original Scooby-Doo series. The actress, who has died at the age of 71, provided the voice of wealthy, danger-prone teen Daphne Blake in different series from 1970 to 1985 and again in 2000 and 2003. A family friend told the Hollywood Reporter Tuesday that North died at her California home on Nov. 30 after a long illness. North began voicing Daphne in the second season of the first series after the departure of Stefanianna Christenson. In a recent interview, North said that after Christenson left, her roommate, Nicole Jaffe, who voiced Velma Dinkley, persuaded her to audition for the role.

North was born in 1945 and grew up in Pasadena, Calif. Her other roles over the years included appearances on '60s TV shows like Gidget, The Monkees, and The Fugitive, as well as the 1971 Disney movie The Barefoot Executive, where she played Kurt Russell's love interest, Deadline reports. She met producer Wes Kenney in a 1971 appearance on Days of Our Lives and was married to him for more than 40 years until his death in 2015. She is survived by a son, a stepson, and a stepdaughter. Another stepdaughter died last week. (Casey Kasem, who voiced Shaggy for many years, died in 2014.)

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